A "lover of mad style" has given South Africa innovative and creative solutions in bold colour for the past few years. After he was a Design Indaba Expo Emerging Creative in 2012, Atang Tshikare's career took off and he recently won the Southern Guild Future Found Award for 2014.
"He stood out for his wildly creative illustrations applied to as many surfaces he could find from sneakers to bike frames to the walls of his stand," said Kelly Berman, manager of content and programming at Design Indaba, of his selection as one of the 40 Emerging Creatives at the Expo in 2012. "Since then he has stayed true to his aesthetic while finding inventive ways to collaborate with other designers with amazing results. Within a year or two after he was at the Expo, he was exhibiting at international fairs!"
Tshikare is a graphic designer and graffiti artist and the founder of Zabalazaa Designs. He customises sneakers, stilettos, furniture, machines and clothes, while also making desolate areas of South Africa more colourful through street art.
The aim of the award is to aid young designers by assisting them to put the necessary business infrastructures in place, in order to improve their stability and output in design and production development.
Trevyn McGowan, director of Southern Guild, said: "Atang has dynamism, commitment and focus that is rare and inspiring, and he impressed us particularly because of his ability to communicate and collaborate across multiple categories and industries. He is professional and shows great potential for business growth in the immediate future."
